The field of the present invention comprises power generation, and more specifically, power generation by renewable resources that have not yet been exploited.
There are two major factors that will control the continued success and survival of the world's peoples: population growth and energy consumption. Population growth is a social and cultural issue that cannot be resolved through invention. Energy consumption, however, can be addressed by technological innovation.
In industrialized areas of the world, most energy is consumed in the form of electricity and fossil fuels. Although non-industrialized countries often rely on wood or coal for energy, as countries become more modernized there is a trend toward greater use of electricity and fossil fuel. As a result, petroleum and proven petroleum resources are being consumed far faster than they are being discovered. The long-term implications are simple: an increasingly large world population, containing peoples desiring modern living standards, will consume constantly growing quantities of petroleum as the petroleum becomes increasingly scarce. To avoid a catastrophe, it is necessary to develop power resources that are renewable.
Renewable power resources include wood combustion, solar heating and photoelectric cells, wind generators, wave generators and hydroelectric power, and nuclear power. Nuclear power is fraught with problems, including safety issues, disposal of high level radioactive byproducts which persist for thousands of years, the relatively short useful life of a reactor due to degradation of materials from radiation exposure, and the expense of decommissioning a reactor. Wood combustion creates environmental problems when used on a large scale, and cannot produce electricity in an efficient manner. Sun power, including solar heating, photoelectric cells, and wind generators are erratic and require unusual concentrations of the source to be effective; i.e., an extremely sunny and clear location, or a very windy locale. Hydroelectric power generators generally require a large pressure head to be effective, which demands a high dam storing a large amount of water. As a result, hydroelectric power projects tend to be enormous, consuming a large amount of capital and natural resources. In addition, most sites suitable for hydroelectric generation have already been exploited.
Wave generators have also been developed to exploit the large amounts of energy present in ocean waves. However, wave motion tends to vary significantly in accordance with wind patterns, storm fronts, tidal flows, and the like.
There are many locations throughout the world where large masses of water flow in a constant and reliable manner, although the flows are at low velocity. Such locations, which provide great opportunities for exploitation of potential energy, include tidal flows, river flows, and deep ocean currents. For example, the Kuroshio Current flowing past the coast of Japan at Shikoku moves at a rate up to 5.5 knots, without the variations common to wind power and solar power. Likewise, the Gulf current flows along the Atlantic coast of the United States at a similar velocity. Tidal flows in places such as the Pentland Firth in Scotland, the Cook Inlet in Alaska, or the Bay of Fundy in Newfoundland provide reliable flows at higher velocities. Also, many large rivers of the world provide large masses of water flowing at relatively low velocity. Clearly, any technology that can exploit these low velocity energy sources could provide electricity both to industrialized and underdeveloped areas throughout the world.